County: Dublin Site name: Grange Castle Business Park, Clondalkin
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 15E0394
Author: Denis Shine
Site type: Early modern agricultural activity
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 703773m, N 732160m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.329505, -6.442096
Testing and monitoring were carried out at Grange Castle Business Park, Clondalkin, Dublin 22, on behalf of Interxion Ireland in advance of the construction of a new data centre. Testing (followed by monitoring as a extension to the existing licence in January 2016) was required as a condition to grant of planning (SD15A/0034: Condition 11 b) from South Dublin County Council.
The 7 test trenches (totaling 229m) were aligned to investigate a faint geophysical trend (c. 23m in diameter) that was identified during geophysical survey of the site in January 2015. The trenching did not reveal any features of considered archaeological significance but did identify a furrow, some oxidised soil, brick waste and evidence of modern ploughing.
The testing report recommended monitoring of the soil strip - due to the wider archaeological/historical significance of the surrounding landscape and the small percentage of the development’s footprint that was assessed through the initial testing.
Monitoring was undertaken over two days in January 2016 and exposed evidence for agriculture (furrows) and land improvement (drains) on the site in the early modern to modern period; isolated spreads of burnt clay, brick and charcoal (which were also frequently contained in the backfill of the agricultural features) indicate contemporary light industrial in the vicinity of the site - the brick inferring such activity may have been associated with a brickfield/brick firing and/or the demolition of brick buildings. However, no features of considered archaeological significance were recorded. The site was fully reduced to the level of natural subsoil under archaeological supervision.
Number 1, Brendan Street, Birr, County Offaly
